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I mean, everything! In some of our ancient sources, God's mind held within it all that ever was, is, or will be. It wasn't just a blank slate waiting to be filled. It already held ...
It involves the Shekhinah (the Divine Presence). The Shekhinah (שְׁכִינָה) is a Hebrew word often translated as "divine presence," the immanent aspect of God that dwells within the...
(Exodus 12:1) "And the L–rd spoke to Moses and to Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying": I might think that both Aaron and Moses were being addressed; it is, therefore, written (Exod...
When God told Moses in (Exodus 7:1), "See, I have made you an overlord to Pharaoh," a question immediately arose in the minds of the ancient rabbis. The verse seems to single out M...
The Torah speaks "to Moses and to Aaron", in that order. Moses first, Aaron second. A natural reading would assume this reflects a hierarchy: Moses is the greater, Aaron the lesser...
Which came first, heaven or earth? The Torah seems to give contradictory answers. In (Genesis 1:1), the verse reads: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." Heave...
The Torah lists the patriarchs in a specific order: Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. In (Exodus 3:6), God introduces Himself to Moses at the burning bush as "the God of your father, the ...
(Exodus 12:1) "in the land of Egypt":(He spoke to them) outside the city. But perhaps in the city itself? (This cannot be, for it is written (Exodus 9:29) "When I leave the city" (...
Before God chose the land of Israel as His special territory, every land on earth was equally suitable for divine speech. Prophecy could happen anywhere. But once Israel was chosen...
Before King Solomon built the Temple on Mount Moriah, the divine presence had no fixed address. The Shechinah, God's indwelling presence, could rest anywhere within the city of Jer...
Before Aaron was chosen for the priesthood, every member of Israel was eligible to serve as a priest. The entire nation stood on equal footing when it came to approaching God throu...
Before David was chosen (as king) every Israelite was kasher for kingship. Once David had been chosen, the other Israelites (i.e., those not in his line) were excluded. As it is wr...
Even when God spoke to the prophets outside the land of Israel, He did so only in the merit of the patriarchs. And even then, only in a ritually clean place near water. The Mekhilt...
The opening of the book of Ezekiel contains a grammatical oddity that the Mekhilta refuses to ignore. The phrase "the word of the Lord was, was" (hayoh hayah) uses the verb twice, ...
Know that the Shechinah is not revealed outside the land. For it is written (Jonah 1:3) "And Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish, etc." Now can one flee from the L–rd? Is it not written...
Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael turns to three kinds of prophets and asks what each one chose to defend when God's honor and Israel's honor stood in tension. Jeremiah claimed both. He de...
Jonah made a fateful choice. When God commanded him to prophesy against the city of Nineveh, Jonah weighed two competing loyalties, his duty to God and his love for Israel. He chos...
R. Yochanan said: Jonah went (on that voyage) only to cast himself into the sea, as it is written (Jonah 1:12) "And he said to them: Lift me up and cast me into the sea." All this ...
(Exodus 12:1) "saying": Go and say it to them immediately. These are the words of R. Yishmael. As it is written (Exodus 34:34) "And he went out and spoke to the children of Israel ...
R. Oshiyah said: When the Holy One Blessed be He decrees good and bad decrees for Israel, a report is returned to Him for the good, but not for the bad, viz. (Ezekiel 9:2-11) "And,...
Rabbi Akiva found a hidden message in a single word from (Exodus 12:1), the word "saying." When God spoke to Moses, the instruction included "saying," which Akiva interpreted as a ...
R. Shimon b. Azzai said: I do not come to detract from my master's words, but to add to them, viz. Not to Moses alone did He speak in the merit of Israel, but to all of the prophet...
Thus do you find with Baruch the soon of Neriah, who complained before the L–rd, (Ibid. 45:3) "You (Baruch) say: Woe unto me, the L–rd has added grief to my pain!" (You say:) Why a...
(Exodus 12:2) records God's instruction to Moses: "This month shall be to you the beginning of months." It is the very first commandment given to Israel as a nation, even before th...
Rabbi Akiva taught that there were three things Moses could not visualize on his own, no matter how great his prophetic power. God had to physically point them out to him. The firs...
"This month": Nissan. You say it is Nissan. But perhaps it was some other month of the year? It is written (Exodus 23:16) "And the festival of the ingathering (Succoth) at the end ...
(Exodus 12:2) "The beginning of the months": We are hereby apprised that Nissan is the beginning for the months. And whence do we derive (the same for) the reign of kings? From (I ...
R. Nathan and R. Tzaddok say: Also for house rentals (i.e., If one says: I am renting it to you for this year, the understanding is until the beginning of Nissan.) But this does no...
(Exodus 12:2) "This month shall be to you": Adam did not count by it (but by Tishrei, as the first month). You say this, but perhaps (the meaning is) "to you," but not to a gentile...
Rabbi Yonathan taught a striking principle about eclipses. Both solar and lunar eclipses, he declared, were given as signs. But not for Israel. They were relegated entirely to the ...
(Exodus 12:2) "the beginning of months": I might think, for the minimum of months, two (i.e., the most distinctive of months, Sivan and Tishrei). It is, therefore, written (Ibid.) ...
R. Nathan says "Observe the month of Aviv". Observe the month which is closest to Aviv. And which is that? Adar. But we have not heard how many (days) are to be intercalated. From ...
Rabbi Yitzchak raised a sharp astronomical objection to a proposed method of calculating the calendar. If you followed a certain interpretation, he argued, the moon would already b...
R. Yirmiyah says: Just as uncleanliness constrains (the offering of the Pesach (Passover) [viz. (Numbers 9:10)] and (the advent of) spring constrains, then just as the (constraint ...
Rabbi Yoshiyah raised a question that touches the very structure of the Jewish calendar: who has the authority to add an extra month to the year? The Hebrew calendar is lunar, and ...
"Speak to the whole congregation of Israel": The speaking was on Rosh Chodesh; the taking (of the lamb), on the tenth; and the slaughtering, on the fourteenth. You say this, but pe...
Rabbi Acha bar Rabbi Oshiyah laid out the precise timeline of the first Passover. God spoke to Moses on the first of the month (Rosh Chodesh). The Israelites selected their lambs o...
Rabbi Yossi Haglili agreed with the established timeline of the first Passover: God spoke on the first of the month, the lamb was selected on the tenth, and the slaughtering occurr...
(Ibid. 3) "On the tenth day of this month, they shall take": This tells me that only the tenth day is kasher for taking. Whence do I derive (the same for) the fourteenth day? It fo...
The Torah commands regarding the Passover lamb: "On the tenth day of this month, they shall take" (Exodus 12:3). The Mekhilta zeroes in on one seemingly minor word in this verse, t...
How many lambs were needed for the first Passover? The Mekhilta tackles this question with characteristic precision. One might initially think that a single lamb would suffice for ...
The Torah introduces a practical problem in the laws of the Passover sacrifice. What happens when a household is too small to consume an entire lamb? (Exodus 12:4) addresses this d...
Mekhilta DeRabbi Yishmael turns to What If a Household Was Too Small to Eat an Entire Passover Lamb. Rabbi Akiva asked: Where do we learn that a person may make the Passover offeri...
The Torah instructs that when preparing for the Paschal lamb, if a household is too small to consume the entire animal, they should share it with "the neighbor near his house" (Exo...
The Torah uses an unusual word, "michsah", when describing how the Passover lamb should be allocated. (Exodus 12:4) says the lamb must be divided "according to the michsah of souls...
What is the intent of "according to the count of souls"? From (Ibid.) "A man (according to his eating"), I might think only a man. Whence do I derive (the same for) a woman, a tumt...
Rabbi Yishmael preserved a practical but fascinating rule about how the original Passover sacrifice worked in Egypt. The Paschal lamb was not a solo affair, families and neighbors ...
(Ibid. 5) "seh": Included in "seh" is a goat and a sheep, viz. (Devarim 14:4) "the seh of the sheep and the seh of the goats." "unblemished": to exclude a blemished animal. "male":...
